FIRST OFF: If you have purchased anything from Sally Beauty recently, please READ THIS.
Regular blog post below:
If there's one thing that influences my purchases, it's my unrepentant fangirl love of No Doubt and Gwen Stefani.
One of my first CDs was No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, and I actually still own it, even though I'm pretty sure it's more scratches than sound at this point. I've worshipped at the altar of Gwen Stefani since then. I even joined my high school swim team because she swam in high school.
I mean really, who better an idol to have? A perfume line, a fashion line, two solo albums, multiple amazing albums with No Doubt (and two that are.. ehhh, good enough), happily married to Gavin Rossdale of Bush for years, three beautiful sons with him; seriously. One hell of a role model.
So when I heard she was doing a collab with my favorite polish brand, OPI, you can imagine I lost my freaking mind with excitement, and had plans to buy up every single polish.
Well, I almost did.
The first one I bought was "L.A.M.B", named after her brand and first solo album. It's a "satin finish" gold, and the color is fabulous. It's the gold featured on my left hand in the tips and on my ring finger with the clover in my St. Patricks' day post. The texture is amazing. It's probably the best of the polishes from the line.
But I was waffling over "Push and Shove", the fancy "mirror-like" chrome polish that came with a (TINY) special base. It seemed a little gimmicky, and what the hell is the game plan when that special base runs out, and you can't top coat it, and it's meant for one night of wear, and blah blah blah. Someone had mentioned on their blog that Essie's "No Place Like Chrome" was a good dupe for it, and I found that on amazon.com for about $5 so I was going to say screw it and just order that.
But Sally Beauty has all their Gwen OPIs half off right now because... they're running out of room, I guess, and need to make space for the Muppets polishes. So, $4.50 is a better deal than $5.80, and Gwen, and my preferred brand, and whatever consumerism.
I also picked up the awesome blindtacular pink, "Hey Baby", and the kickass glitter, "In True Stefani Fashion". I have not picked up the satin finish black because I have two black polishes already and I have a matte top coat (NYC), and I don't really do solid black nails that often anyway. I didn't pick up the creme gloss red either, because same thing-I have enough of those, and it didn't seem "special" enough for me to justify it.
ANYWAY.
The blogosphere (do we still call it that?) claims that "Push and Shove" (hereby abbrev. to PaS) shows every flaw in your nails. As of current wear, I find the flaws appear no worse than when I wear a regular light polish (I have a little peeling at the edges of some of my nails. I'm pretty destructive). I've also heard conflicting reports on whether or not a top coat will fuck up this polish, so I decided to test that for you.
I do like the way the base made my nails feel, though. It dried pretty quickly, and it helped to smooth out some of the minor ridges in my nails.
Overall, I don't think it's really noticeable of a difference? Supposedly it leads to bubbling and whatever, but I don't see anything like that. It does seem to make it a little "cloudy" so that the light does not reflect as sharply off the nail, as far as I can tell. I've been checking my nails out for like five minutes, and aside from initial "clouding" from the top coats as they hit the nail, I really can't see a difference, and if you're wearing this out to a club or anything, I doubt anyone will unless it's some sort of super-weird brightly lit club where everyone carries microscopes.
The OPI top coat seems to have been the worst in terms of ruining the intended finish, but not really. Then my Sally Hansen "Super Shine", then Sally Hansen "Double Duty". So you can probably top coat this puppy.
So! Overhyped? A little. Does it look cool? Hell yes, I have robot nails, you guys! If you can find it for $4.50 and like doing robot nails once in a while, it's certainly not a bad investment.
It would probably look really bitchin' if you used the satin black or the creme gloss pink to do some stamping, or some striping tape art, to get that contrast. I might play around with that later, IDK.
EDIT:
And after a shower, this stuff does, indeed, chip like a bastard. Food for thought.
Regular blog post below:
If there's one thing that influences my purchases, it's my unrepentant fangirl love of No Doubt and Gwen Stefani.
One of my first CDs was No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, and I actually still own it, even though I'm pretty sure it's more scratches than sound at this point. I've worshipped at the altar of Gwen Stefani since then. I even joined my high school swim team because she swam in high school.
I mean really, who better an idol to have? A perfume line, a fashion line, two solo albums, multiple amazing albums with No Doubt (and two that are.. ehhh, good enough), happily married to Gavin Rossdale of Bush for years, three beautiful sons with him; seriously. One hell of a role model.
So when I heard she was doing a collab with my favorite polish brand, OPI, you can imagine I lost my freaking mind with excitement, and had plans to buy up every single polish.
Well, I almost did.
The first one I bought was "L.A.M.B", named after her brand and first solo album. It's a "satin finish" gold, and the color is fabulous. It's the gold featured on my left hand in the tips and on my ring finger with the clover in my St. Patricks' day post. The texture is amazing. It's probably the best of the polishes from the line.
But I was waffling over "Push and Shove", the fancy "mirror-like" chrome polish that came with a (TINY) special base. It seemed a little gimmicky, and what the hell is the game plan when that special base runs out, and you can't top coat it, and it's meant for one night of wear, and blah blah blah. Someone had mentioned on their blog that Essie's "No Place Like Chrome" was a good dupe for it, and I found that on amazon.com for about $5 so I was going to say screw it and just order that.
But Sally Beauty has all their Gwen OPIs half off right now because... they're running out of room, I guess, and need to make space for the Muppets polishes. So, $4.50 is a better deal than $5.80, and Gwen, and my preferred brand, and whatever consumerism.
I also picked up the awesome blindtacular pink, "Hey Baby", and the kickass glitter, "In True Stefani Fashion". I have not picked up the satin finish black because I have two black polishes already and I have a matte top coat (NYC), and I don't really do solid black nails that often anyway. I didn't pick up the creme gloss red either, because same thing-I have enough of those, and it didn't seem "special" enough for me to justify it.
ANYWAY.
 |
| You work it hard... |
The blogosphere (do we still call it that?) claims that "Push and Shove" (hereby abbrev. to PaS) shows every flaw in your nails. As of current wear, I find the flaws appear no worse than when I wear a regular light polish (I have a little peeling at the edges of some of my nails. I'm pretty destructive). I've also heard conflicting reports on whether or not a top coat will fuck up this polish, so I decided to test that for you.
I do like the way the base made my nails feel, though. It dried pretty quickly, and it helped to smooth out some of the minor ridges in my nails.
 |
| Oh hey I remembered to change my white balance. Thumb: OPI top coat. Index: Plain. Middle: Sally Hansen Super Shine. Ring: SH Double Duty. Pinky: Glitter, because why not? |
 |
| I even approached the sun for you! Dedicated blog...gerism! |
Overall, I don't think it's really noticeable of a difference? Supposedly it leads to bubbling and whatever, but I don't see anything like that. It does seem to make it a little "cloudy" so that the light does not reflect as sharply off the nail, as far as I can tell. I've been checking my nails out for like five minutes, and aside from initial "clouding" from the top coats as they hit the nail, I really can't see a difference, and if you're wearing this out to a club or anything, I doubt anyone will unless it's some sort of super-weird brightly lit club where everyone carries microscopes.
The OPI top coat seems to have been the worst in terms of ruining the intended finish, but not really. Then my Sally Hansen "Super Shine", then Sally Hansen "Double Duty". So you can probably top coat this puppy.
So! Overhyped? A little. Does it look cool? Hell yes, I have robot nails, you guys! If you can find it for $4.50 and like doing robot nails once in a while, it's certainly not a bad investment.
It would probably look really bitchin' if you used the satin black or the creme gloss pink to do some stamping, or some striping tape art, to get that contrast. I might play around with that later, IDK.
EDIT:
And after a shower, this stuff does, indeed, chip like a bastard. Food for thought.
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